Chinese government closing in on Liverpool

05/08/2010

Rumours are abound that The Chinese government are 'this' close to taking over Liverpool, with The Guardian revealing that the government fund China Investment Corporation, headed by Kenny Huang, has spent the past fortnight raising the exact amount of money needed to finance the purchase of the club.

There had already been rumours that they were interested in bidding for the club, but the news from English-language state newspaper China Daily that they have sold $558million (£351.4million, the amount needed to buy the club) of shares has made them very strong favourites for ownership of the Merseyside giants. ‘China Investment Corp, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund that bought a 9.9% stake in Morgan Stanley in 2007, sold $90.5m of shares in the investment bank on 30 July, bringing the total amount divested in the last two weeks to about $558m,’ said the paper.

However, according to the Guardian, while the CIC wants financial control of the club, it seems unlikely that they will be taking any hands-on role in the day-to-day running of it. Nor will they be ploughing a fortune into it, unlike the owners of Manchester City.

‘CIC strives to contribute to the prosperity and development of local economies,’ they say on their website. ‘CIC usually does not seek an active role in the companies in which it invests nor attempts to influence those companies' operations. CIC seeks long-term, stable, sustainable, and risk-adjusted return.’